Join us to celebrate the publication of Old North Melbourne, the first comprehensive book on the nineteenth-century history of Hotham/North Melbourne, by Dr Fiona Gatt.

‘Like Janet McCalman’s Struggletown this book is destined to become a classic in the genre of Australian urban social history’ – Associate Professor Seamus O’Hanlon.

This is the story of the first fifty years of today’s much-loved suburb of North Melbourne. When the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung were first developed by European settlers in 1852, there were many barriers to its success. A great expanse of barren land lay between it and Melbourne, a swamp on the west, open sewerage to the east and undeveloped bushland to the south. But of the thousands of immigrants who flocked to Victoria during the gold rush, some settled in North Melbourne, determined to develop an urban town to be proud of. From 1859 to 1887, it was called Hotham. The town’s businessmen had a booming stake in Melbourne’s meat market, metal manufacturing and tanneries. It also harboured an unusually high number of Irish immigrants and some of Melbourne’s most downtrodden residents. This book details the triumphs and struggles of the people of nineteenth-century North Melbourne, revealing fascinating individuals and the collective story of the emergence of this determined working-class community.

Fiona will be introduced by Professor Andrew May, who has described the book as ‘Australian urban history at its best’.

Fiona Gatt works on commissioned histories for significant organisations. She has taught history at Deakin and La Trobe universities. Fiona is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Property History at the University of Sydney and Senior Research Officer at the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.

This event has received funding from the Centre for Contemporary Histories at Deakin University.

Pre-order the book to collect on the night

Pre-order the book from the RHSV bookshop and choose “Click and Collect” as your shipping method to pick up your copy when you attend the launch.

Housekeeping

This event will be offered both in person at the RHSV, 239 A’Beckett St Melbourne 3000, and online via Zoom.

At the RHSV refreshments are served from 6pm – 6:30pm and the Zoom session will start, as will the lecture, at 6.30pm.

An automatic confirmation of your booking will be sent to you – please check your Spam or Junk Mail folder as these automated emails are often viewed as Junk by your email provider. Don’t panic, your name will be at the door if you can’t find your ticket.